Over the Easter weekend me and Jackie have been doing our bit for the Labour cause and going round posting a leaflet for Colin Pickhall. The areas we had been given were Ross side, Arrad Foot and Newlands. It's a nice way to get to explore some of these small villages that otherwise you drive through or straight passed. It's very interesting discovering tucked away pads of the very well to do that it makes you aware that we have some very rich folk nestled in our villages. Where once we had farm labourers cottages and Barns, where once was a forge or a mill is now a converted Grand design of a home, how the other half live.
But the thing that saddened us was the number of small houses, sometimes terraced, were unoccupied and were obviously holiday homes or weekend retreats. In every village that we visited I would say 10% of the houses were empty. I suppose the people that own these are escaping the astronomical prices of the National Park and opting for a little hideaway just outside the honeypot, but just a stones throw from the Lakes. How many of these properties are there I wonder, is there some way of counting them. Do SLDC have any idea how much of their housing stock has disappeared in this way, how many have we in Ulverston.
And of course this must push the prices up, especially in the villages, and it goes without saying that it saps the life blood of the social life in these villages.
It's a wonder we don't have some kind of campaign going on here like they had in Wales, not that I'm advocating it but something is very wrong. When we have all the backlash against building lots of new houses we are running headlong into a crisis where the young people, starting families can't find places to live. Maybe it's always been so, but unless you get out and walk these villages posting stuff through dead letter boxes you don't realise the scale of the problem, it certainly brought it home to us this weekend.
But the thing that saddened us was the number of small houses, sometimes terraced, were unoccupied and were obviously holiday homes or weekend retreats. In every village that we visited I would say 10% of the houses were empty. I suppose the people that own these are escaping the astronomical prices of the National Park and opting for a little hideaway just outside the honeypot, but just a stones throw from the Lakes. How many of these properties are there I wonder, is there some way of counting them. Do SLDC have any idea how much of their housing stock has disappeared in this way, how many have we in Ulverston.
And of course this must push the prices up, especially in the villages, and it goes without saying that it saps the life blood of the social life in these villages.
It's a wonder we don't have some kind of campaign going on here like they had in Wales, not that I'm advocating it but something is very wrong. When we have all the backlash against building lots of new houses we are running headlong into a crisis where the young people, starting families can't find places to live. Maybe it's always been so, but unless you get out and walk these villages posting stuff through dead letter boxes you don't realise the scale of the problem, it certainly brought it home to us this weekend.
Great to read that you're concerned about the issue.
ReplyDeleteThe subject is related to affordable housing for our young people.
Sadly there was little interest when I organised a meeting at the Old Friends a little while back supported by posters all over town.
My experience from visiting every house in half of Ulverston over a whole year (when I ran for County Council) is that there's little belief that individuals can achieve any change in local government policy.
If you planning a campaign I'd be interested.